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       The following days passed in a blur. Donghae kept swinging between his sleeping state and short periods of consciousness, during which Hyukjae fed him and gave him more pills. Donghae's fever first diminished, only to come back stronger than ever after a few hours, leaving the young man weak and knocked out.

More than once, he felt Hyukjae's fingers palm his forehead, or just caress his face in a vain attempt to soothe him. Despite the pain and the fog surrounding him, Donghae felt his chest swell up with strong and new feelings every time he sensed Hyukjae around. He felt safe, he felt grateful, and above all he felt he could have faith in that man. He quickly began to trust the other unconditionally and soon found himself completely relying on his savior.

Someone else would probably have stayed on their guard, but because he had never met anybody before, apart from his father and his brother, he didn't even have the reflex to doubt people. He genuinely believed everything Hyukjae told him, that he was safe, that he didn't hate him, that everything would soon get better. He didn't even thought twice before swallowing the food Hyukjae brought him, nor the pills. He slept without realizing how vulnerable it made him, and how easily someone could harm him when he was unconscious.

But Hyukjae never did anything that could harm the cursed boy. He fed him, treated him, took care of him, day and night, changing the wet towel cooling down his head, changing the wet sheets, his hands occasionally running up and down Donghae's face to soothe him and get him back to sleep.

They didn't talk so much, except for the basics.

Are you hungry?

Are you thirsty?

Does it hurt?

Everything's gonna be okay.

Sleep Donghae, I'm not going anywhere.

Hours, days passed, slowly and yet fast. Donghae was unable to tell, but he didn't care so much because he was used to it. Time had no value in his dark world. Was it be day or night, it didn't change anything for him. The only thing that mattered was to hear Hyukjae's soft and gentle voice every time he would wake up.

Hyukjae's voice was what he liked the most about the other, even more that his gentle touches. His voice was like a melody to his ears. It could calm him down like a lullaby, as much as it could make his heart race uncontrollably in his chest. Whenever Hyukjae talked, Donghae just listened to him in awe.

He wished he could talk too, respond to his savior, but even if his state was slowly improving and his fever progressively regressing, his throat was getting worse. It burned all the time, to the point he could hardly utter a single word. He deeply wished he could communicate with more than a nod or a shake of his head, and not call for Hyukjae with those pitiful whimpers. He wanted his voice back.

But he was still weak and, even if he wanted to stay awake, most of the time his body kept slumping into dreamlands.


 

       He woke up again, his body sore and sweating. He gulped down the painful lump in his throat and tried again to talk. He needed water, but he didn't know where Hyukjae was. He parted his dried lips and inhaled carefully, before he focused all his spirit on his voice.

"H-Hyuk...Jae..." he managed to whisper weakly, and then grimaced when his throat started to hurt again.

Yet the blonde didn't answer, and the room remained silent. Donghae stopped moving and tried to listen. After a few seconds, he finally noticed some faint noises. He couldn't tell for sure what it was, but it sounded like water running in the next room, then he thought he heard Hyukjae spit. He assumed the other was brushing his teeth or something.

A door opened a short moment later, and Donghae prepared himself to call Hyukjae again. He waited while the quiet steps approached. As he heard Hyukjae enter the room, he opened his mouth but a loud sound stopped him, leaving him startled.
Hyukjae muttered something and quickly walked out of the room before Donghae could say anything. The cursed boy listened carefully and he finally understood it was the doorbell when he heard Hyukjae open a door and talk to someone. The ring of the doorbell was different from the one he used to hear in his father's house.

He frowned as his thoughts brought him back to his previous house and room, and he quickly shook his head to get rid of them. He focused back on the voices, trying to understand what they were saying but unable to catch a single thing. After a couple minutes, he decided to give up. He was way too tired to keep focused that long.

That's when a voice he had never heard before boomed in the next room, loud and clear.

"What?!"

"Heechul", Hyukjae's hushed voice instantly followed, pleading. "Please, don't wake him up."

Donghae turned his face toward the voices, knowing they were talking about him. His heartbeats quickly increased as anxiety and fear wrapped him.

"What the hell Hyuk! Do you realize how dangerous this is?"

"I-" Hyukjae began, only the be interrupted by the other.

"You can't keep him here, this is insane!"

"Hyung, he needs help, he's sick and he has nowhere else to go..."

"That's none of your business Hyuk! You can't keep him here, he could harm you", the voice suddenly turned low, yet loud enough for Donghae to hear it. "Plus, you don't have enough incomes to feed another mouth, it's too much for you. And you already missed three days of work. If your boss wasn't worried about you and hadn't called me, I wouldn't even have known that something was wrong..."

"Nothing's wrong", Hyukjae's soft voice retorted. "I wanted to take a few days off anyway... And I can afford it, he doesn't eat that much..."

Donghae bit his lip, feeling guilt and shame build up in his heart. He should have known he was a burden. His fingers clawed the sheets and he gritted his teeth, hurting his lip in the process.

The two men in the other room remained silent for a few seconds, before Hyukjae's friend talked again, his whispering voice sounding suddenly filled with some kind of pain.

"I know what you're doing Hyuk", he faintly said, sounding suddenly softer.

"No, you don't."

Donghae felt how Hyukjae's voice instantly tensed up.

"But I do", the other countered. "And you can't do it. You can't keep him here."

"You don't understand..." Hyukjae tried again, only to be cut by his friend once more.

"I do understand!" the other snapped. "I feel the same! I think about it every ing day! But no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try or how much he recalls you of him, it won't change anything. You can't bring Ryeowook back."

"I know", Hyukjae snapped defensively.

"He's dead Hyukjae."

"I know!" he repeated, almost growling, making something weird churn inside Donghae's belly. "It's... It's not just about Wookie..."